Chapter 54 Section 54 Offending officials through the back door

In February of the eighth year of Tongzhi (AD 1869), the 47-year-old Li Hongzhang was promoted to the governor of Huguang and co-organized a bachelor.In June of the same year, the imperial court issued a new task, asking him to travel to Sichuan to investigate the case of Wu Tang, governor of Sichuan, who was involved in corruption and bribery. This put Li Hongzhang in a dilemma. Wu Tang was his friend when he was running the regiment training in Anhui. In addition, there was another more important reason--when Cixi escorted the deceased father's coffin back home, she had not yet gained power, and Wu Tang had sponsored her. Seeing him as a benefactor, he deliberately promoted him after taking power. In a few years, Wu Tang made a fortune, and was promoted from the county magistrate to the governor of Sichuan.

Facing this former friend and current official celebrity, how to investigate this case?After much deliberation, Li Hongzhang decided to delay for a while.At the beginning of August, when the court saw that Li Hongzhang had not left, he urged him to leave immediately.Li Hongzhang knew that he could not delay any longer, so he arranged for his subordinate official Xu Qian to go to Sichuan first to check the situation. Soon, he also set off for Sichuan. That night, there was heavy fog in Chengdu, Li Hongzhang did not go out, rested for a while after dinner, leaned on the bedside and read "Hanshu" under the lamp, Xu Qian came in in a flash, bowed and said: "My lord, there is someone outside the door." One person, who is said to be a distant relative of yours, said he wanted to see you. The lower officials dare not make decisions, so they came here to report."

Li Hongzhang was taken aback, and quickly asked, "What accent?" Xu Qian said: "It doesn't sound like a local accent. It looks like a person from the capital, with some Wannan accent mixed in." Li Hongzhang got out of bed with his clothes on and said, "Let him come in. Maybe he's really an old relative from Hefei." Xu Qian promised to go out, and after a while, a short, fat man with a beard came in and fell to his knees. Kowtowing, he took off his beard all over his face, and said: "The guilty minister risked his death to see the lord. I just ask the lord to let the guilty minister go. The guilty minister is willing to be turned into a cow and a horse for the adult to drive in the next life, and he has no complaints!"

Li Hongzhang heard the loud voice, which was very familiar to him, so he couldn't help taking a step closer, and then he saw clearly that the person who came was Wu Tang, Governor of Sichuan.He hurriedly helped Wu Tang up, and said: "Why did your elder brother come in with this appearance? What kind of news is this going to spread? Put on your beard, so that no one can see through." Wu Tang was obedient, and quickly arranged the beard properly. Li Hongzhang looked at it, motioned him to sit down, and then called out, "Come on!" An officer came in quickly. Li Hongzhang said sternly: "An old relative from southern Anhui is here, you go and make a cup of new tea. Tell Mr. Xu, the headquarters does not pass on, and no one is allowed to come in. Go."

The messenger promised to go out, and in a short while put the new tea in front of Wu Tang, saying: "You are always slow to use it." After that, he withdrew. Li Hongzhang said in a low voice: "Your elder brother has something to say, talk about it now." When Wu Tang heard this, he hurriedly knelt down again: "The guilty minister came here risking his death, but he just wanted to hear the truth from your lord. What does your lord want to do with the guilty minister? Sheng Gui and Zhang Denggao are two rotten tortoises. How did you tell the adults?" Li Hongzhang whispered: "Since your elder brother said so, I can't hide anything from you. In fact, what Sheng Gui and Zhang Denggao said is not important, the key is what you did, elder brother. My brother came here according to the order." , This is exactly what we need to do. You and I are both governors, and my brother will naturally protect the place that should be protected, but your brother must tell the truth. My brother knows the truth, which is more important, naturally You can tell. Do you understand what my brother said?"

Wu Tang said: "Your Excellency, let me tell you. In fact, which of the things that the guilty minister did was not done by others?" Li Hongzhang helped him up and said, "I don't want to listen to your elder brother talking like that. There is an old saying in Hefei that chickens have their own way, cats have their own way, and mice have their own way. I will ask my brother now." , How much labor did your elder brother use to enter Sichuan this time? How many sedan chairs were used? Master Du has added three ginseng, what do you ask the court to do?" Wu Tang sat down and said: "When my lord asked about this matter, the criminal is still in a dream. The family of the criminal came from Yangzhou by hiring a boat, but he only hired two big boats, 800 servants, and an additional 200 Famous bearer. I only received a few taels of entertainment along the way, and the total amount was less than three thousand taels. Tell me, what is this?"

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "My brother doesn't want to hear this. I just want to know how much money was handed over to my brother from the yamen along the way? The imperial decree said that it was more than a hundred thousand taels. After some investigation, my brother got Another number. My brother has been thinking, what my brother has done, should my brother show it to his superiors?" Wu Tang hurriedly said: "My lord, don't listen to those people who are so stupid. These people are full and have nothing to do, so they come out to think about punishing people. Today, I will say something heartfelt to my lord. The minister came out of Beijing, and after he entered Sichuan, he did receive a few entertainments. Your lord is also a person who seals the frontiers. When a new official takes office, the local government will inevitably have to curry favor with him. How can you refute his sensibilities? If you accept him, he will naturally be happy; , why did the criminal minister need his few taels of silver? It's nothing more than to make him feel at ease."

As Wu Tang said, he took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, passed it into Li Hongzhang's hand and said, "The criminal minister passed through four states and counties, and each state and county gave the criminal minister two thousand taels of official money. , a total of 8,000 taels, all of which are clearly remembered above, please have a look at it, sir." Li Hongzhang took the list, glanced at it with his eyes, and asked casually: "Sichuan Province is located in a remote area, and has been hit by disasters year after year. It is already a lot to give out two thousand taels. Let's put this aside. My brother still has one more." I want to ask my brother for advice. What happened to the garrison of Hu Junmen's garrison? As far as I know, Sichuan Province has not been quiet recently. Aren't you being confused?"

Wu Tang raised his neck and said, "My lord, is this also said in the imperial decree? Isn't this wrong? Since the criminal minister came to office, has he ever dismissed every soldier from Hu Junmen?" Li Hongzhang asked rhetorically: "Your elder brother really never dismissed a single soldier from the garrison?" Wu Tang thought for a while, then suddenly slapped his thigh and said: "Yes, yes, the guilty minister finally remembered. It was when the criminal minister had just received the seal. He went to see the drill once and found that the garrison soldiers were brave and falsely reported. So he reprimanded Hu Zhonghe a few words, told him to dismiss the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled, and pay the wages according to the actual courage. Probably this is the matter."

Li Hongzhang immediately asked: "Then, is Hu Junmen going to be able to do it or not?" Wu Tang replied: "It's been done, but it's only about thirty or fifty people." Li Hongzhang asked again: "Brother, I have another question to ask. There is also a section in the package, saying that after your elder brother withdrew Hu Zhonghe's garrison, he asked people around him to recruit soldiers to guard the frontier bravely. How is this going?" thing?" Wu Tang replied: "This is Zhang Zuyun who is the deputy general. It is true that Zhang Zuyun has been with my brother all the time, but Zhang Zuyun has repeatedly made military exploits in Qing, Huai, Xu, and Su. He originally recruited a thousand brave men. Seeing that he is honest and reliable and knows how to fight again, the sinner followed his elder brother to Sichuan. He is still a lieutenant in the Supervising Biaoying, and has not replaced Hu Zhonghe. If your lord does not believe it, you can send them to question. "

Li Hongzhang pondered for a while, then suddenly changed the subject: "What my brother said is similar to other provinces. But what I want to ask is, after your brother took office, how did you sell the lack of points? I heard that, brother There is no place to store the collected silver, so Shou County was specially ordered to build twelve large wooden barrels to hold the silver. What my brother did is ridiculous!" Upon hearing this, Wu Tang hastily knelt down for the third time and said, "Where did you hear what your lord said? Even if the guilty minister is a complete jerk, he won't be so jerk! Brother today! Let’s just talk about it. That’s right, my brother once sold a missing piece, but he only got 3,000 silver for that missing piece, which just covered the expenses of the criminals’ family. My lord is also a person who has been in the officialdom for a long time, like us Which one of these governors doesn’t sell their vacancies? The sinner’s family of fifty or so, can they live on the sinner’s little salary and support?” Li Hongzhang stood up and took a few steps, and said as he walked: "My brother has listened to it. Since my brother took office, other things have not mattered. Only the sale of officials and titles is something that the court cannot tolerate. Your brother I just did it! What do you ask my brother to do? Yes, everyone loves yellow and white things, but a gentleman loves money, and he gets it in a proper way. If everyone starts messing around like my brother, what will happen to the Qing Dynasty? ?” As soon as Wu Tang saw Li Hongzhang getting serious, he kowtowed his head like garlic. He dragged his voice and said, "The guilty minister is so regretful now that he wished he could bang his head against the wall, but I hope you can protect me. After the guilty minister returns, , that is, people will return all the silver that is sold short, isn’t it okay?” Li Hongzhang thought for a while and said, "Brother, get up and talk first." Wu Tang said: "If my lord refuses to agree, the guilty minister will kneel here!" Li Hongzhang had no choice but to pull him up and said, "You are an official of the frontier, an important minister of the court. It is inappropriate to spread the word like this!" Wu Tang wiped away tears and sat down again. Li Hongzhang sat down and said: "Your brother has sold a few missing points and received many gifts. I don't want to ask any more. My brother has been in the officialdom for a long time. I have my own sense of what to do, but your brother But you have to give me a detailed list of these, so that I can speak for you. And the governor of Yunnan, Cen Yuying, what's the matter with him? Your brother should explain it clearly. Of course, my brother will protect you. But What should I do if the court doesn't believe me after my brother handed over the booklet and sends someone down? There is one more thing that I have to do in the next few days. My brother probably already knows about Ding Baozhen. He beheaded An Dehai in a fit of rage. I don't know how this matter will end. My brother should give Ding Baozhen an explanation. My brother knows that it is not easy to be a Han member of the Qing Dynasty, but he can be a governor. , I don’t know how difficult it is. Among us Han members, we should help if we need to help, and we must protect when we need to protect. What do you think?” Wu Tang lowered his head and thought for a while before saying, "Yes, this is the only way to do this!" Li Hongzhang hurriedly said, "Brother is talking about Ding Baozhen?" Wu Tang said: "Your Excellency, let me tell you. The guilty minister just now thought that An Dehai is from the palace. The matter of Ding Zhihuang must be someone in the palace who can talk to the Empress Dowager Cixi. The criminal knows a person in the palace. The eunuch in the combing room, his surname is Li and his name is Lianying. People in Zhili call him Pi Ni Li. His new bun is very popular with Empress Dowager Cixi. The criminal minister can send someone to the capital to find him and ask him to find a way to replace Ding Zhihuang. Distinguish it, maybe it will work.” Li Hongzhang nodded his head and said, "I think I've heard about the skinny plum that I'm talking about, but I've never met him before. I don't know what kind of person he is. Would you like to spend some money?" Wu Tang said: "This is all the matter of the criminal minister. No matter how much it costs, the criminal minister will spend it. The criminal minister just wants to keep Ding Zhihuang safe and sound. It's getting late, and the criminal minister should go back. My lord, the criminal minister Are you coming tomorrow?" Li Hongzhang thought for a while and said: "Your brother, don't forget what I said just now. After all the things that should be done are done, your brother will come over again. Remember, don't let the door recognize it. It's dark The road is slippery, brother, be careful all the way." Wu Tang got up, gave another deep salute, and then opened the door and went out.